Wildwood
An older sister living in Portland, Oregon has her baby brother taken from her by crows while they are playing in the playground. She frantically follows them into a dangerous and secret magical wood which leads to a whole adventure to get him back.
The scope and ambition of this film cannot be understated. It’s a beautiful stop-motion animation that is so technically proficient I cannot figure out how they possibly could have done some scenes. Witchcraft perhaps. In terms of how mad it is they pulled it off, it can safely be compared to The Odyssey1 from earlier this year.
But is it a good film? Yes! It’s not entirely my cup of tea, I find blow-by-blow adventures kind of tire me out, but it’s hard to deny the heart and soul coarsing through the veins of the narrative. Where the The Odyssey was a technical masterwork but lacking in human emotion, this film made out of 3D printed parts and glue has it in spades.
A huge middle finger to generative AI, which frankly has no place in art made for real people. Go see this you will love it.